This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-133293, filed Apr. 27, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for selecting one of software components installed in an electronic device to which an electronic device housing is attached. In particular, the invention relates to a software selecting method for use in electronic devices, in which the software used needs to be changeable for different specifications. These electronic devices are, for example, cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic devices such as cellular phones, there is a case where specifications such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) contents or an incoming sound must be changed even if the types of cellular phones are same. The determining factors here are the destination environment where the devices are to be used, and the provider who provides services to users by the device. Where different providers handle the same model produced by a single maker, the specifications may need to be changed. Specifically, it may be necessary to change, in a single electronic device model, basic operation modes such as a xe2x80x9cWake-Upxe2x80x9d display, incoming sound and backlight color, etc., according to certain specifications.
Thus, it is convenient to provide electronic devices with different operation modes for destinations or for communication providers to which electronic devices are sold. To impart different operation modes, a method for installing different software in a single hardware platform is generally employed.
FIG. 9 schematically shows the structure of basic software used for the above-described purpose. This software comprises common software 4 and software components 30, 31 and 32 that are different from each other. The common software 4 executes basic functional control, such as the control of a built-in battery, and is commonly used to realize each of the modes shown in FIG. 9. The software components 30, 31 and 32 realize operation modes A, B and C, respectively.
The software corresponding to each specification can be determined by selecting components of basic software shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 shows a software structure realized when the mode B has been selected.
Which software component is selected is determined at the manufacturing stage of each cellular phone. Specifically, an ID number corresponding to the specification of each model of electronic devices is prepared and designated when software is written into, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), thereby selecting one of the software components. This makes it complicated to manage ID numbers for respective models at the manufacturing stage, and hence degrades productivity, for example.
As described above, in electronic devices such as cellular phones, different operation modes are realized for each model by installing the modes with different control software. In conventional electronic devices, software corresponding to the specification of each model is written to each electronic device in relation to the ID number of the electronic device during manufacture. This makes it complicated to manage ID numbers for respective models at the manufacturing stage, and hence degrades productivity. In particular, when electronic devices of different specifications are manufactured in parallel, this further complicates manufacturing procedures. Another problem may arise in manufacture, the problem being that the housing of an electronic device is not matched with software installed therein.
The present invention has been developed in light of the above, and aims to provide a software selecting method for use in an electronic device, which can prevent mismatch of the type of housing of the electronic device and software installed therein, thereby facilitating the management of software installed in the electronic device during its manufacture.
To satisfy the aim, the present invention provides a software-selecting method for use in an electronic device equipped with a plurality of software components and a selecting section which selects one of the software components, comprising:
selecting one of the software components if one of first and second electronic device housings is attached to the electronic device, the first electronic device housing having an operating portion which operates the selecting section, and the second electronic device housing having no operating portion.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.